Cyathea discolor Fée

Janssen, Thomas & Rakotondrainibe, France, 2006, A revision of the fern family Cyatheaceae in the Mascarene Islands, Adansonia (3) 28 (2), pp. 213-241 : 237

Cyathea discolor Fée

Mémoires sur les familles des fougères, cinquième Mémoire, Genera Filicum 353 (1850-1852), nom. illeg., non Bory, Voyage autour du monde 1: 218 (1828). — Type: in 1802, Île de France [ Mauritius], Bory s.n .

REMARKS

We were unable to trace the type material. According to the protologue, this species is close to Cyathea commersoniana , but the description is not sufficient to hypothesize about an affinity to the currently recognized Mascarene taxa. Kuhn (1868: 163) places this species in synonymy to his Cyathea canaliculata var. rufescens Mett. ex Kuhn , a synonym of C. madagascariensis Kaulf. We are unable to confirm his decision without having access to the original material. Furthermore, we do not consider it useful to propose a replacement name for this later homonym before its status is clarified.